the beads act as bearings so they go on the wire pieces at the joints, just makes it run smoother, and for step 1 the 2 1/2 piece lays across the two 1 in sticksthat you glued on to the body, so for the confusion, this was one of my first ibles, i need to update most of them

I had trouble making sure the beads were in the right place and struggled to glue them there. I used part of a corrugated plastic advertising sign (Estate Agent/Realtor) to hold the beads perfectly front and back, for not much weight.

Sadly I no longer have the ornithopter anymore. I'll have to re-make it and weigh it. I have to admit though that this model is fairly heavy as it is made with a heavier wood. Though the point of this ible was to show people how to make a working mechanical model with easy to find materials. It did fly but it was not the best ornithopter out there

One other very important thing to test and adjust is the distance between bends on the driver and driven cranks so that they don't stop. Making a bigger ornithopter would make reducing friction easier,too.

you may need to check each pivot point and make sure there is the least friction possible, finding the right beads is important. try a thicker rubber band (not to thick, other wise it will snap you thopter) and surprisingly it doesnt have to flap very fast to take flight, it just needs constant flapping. also the lighter the materials used will make for longer flights.

you should also take into account aluminum foil is kinda heavy because it is technically metal, well... yeah, by the way thanks for the instructible! I used it for a science fair project with which wing material works better, aluminum foil (Iron Man) or plastic bag (Plastic Man) Marvel and DC collide again.